1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a ventilator/dryer assembly provided with a rotary drying device and a simple blower that can suitably be used for drying the inside of a highly humid and closed room such as a bathroom, a closet, a toilet room, a changing room, a cellar or the like in a building as it allows efficient regeneration of the rotary drying element.
2. Background Art
It is a common practice to provide a wet room in a house such as a bathroom with a vent arranged on the wall or the ceiling and fitted with a grille on the inside and a ventilating fan on the outside within the frame of the vent.
Alternatively, a wet room may be provided with an air outlet port and an air inlet port separately arranged on the wall or the ceiling so that wet air in the room is drawn out through the air outlet port by means of a ventilator/dryer assembly arranged outside the room for drying while dried air is blown into the room through the air inlet port. This arrangement is particularly effective for a bathroom or a laundry where washed wet cloths are hung for drying.
A conventional ventilator/dryer assembly of the type under consideration typically comprises a rotary drying device housed in a case main body and a forced circulation mechanism that circulates air by drawing wet air from the room via the air outlet port, passing it through the rotary drying device for drying by adsorption of moisture and then blowing dried air back into the room via the air inlet port and, at the same time, feeds the moisture containing rotary drying device with hot air in order to regenerate the drying device by removing out of it.
A conventional ventilator/dryer assembly as described above requires two blowers for operation, one dedicated to the forced circulation mechanism for drawing wet air from and blowing dried air back into the room and the other dedicated to feeding air to and discharging air out of the rotary drying device in order to regenerate it. With such a complicated air feeding system, the overall cost of the entire ventilator/dryer assembly would be inevitably high.
Additionally, when air directly taken from the outside is used for regenerating the rotary drying device, such air is hardly controllable in terms of temperature and humidity if heated by means of a heater because it is subject to remarkable changes in temperature and humidity throughout the year. If air is polluted to a significant extent, it can adversely affect the drying performance and the durability of the rotary drying device with time as the latter is gradually smeared with the former.
In view of these circumstances, it is therefore the object of the invention to provide a ventilator/dryer assembly comprising a rotary drying device that operates for drying wet air in a room with a simple air feeding system and can be efficiently regenerated for operation. With such a ventilator/dryer assembly, the size and the cost of the entire assembly is significantly reduced and the operation of drying air in the room is carried out in a remarkably simplified manner.